A federal court has ordered lighting manufacturer Lights of...

A federal court has ordered lighting manufacturer Lights of America (LOA) to pay more than $21 million for overstating the light output and life expectancy of its LED bulbs, according to the FTC, which in September 2010 sued LOA and its owners Usman Vakil and Farooq Vakil for “misleading consumers by exaggerating the performance” of its LED bulbs. The FTC charged that LOA violated federal law on packaging and in brochures and falsely compared the brightness of its LED bulbs with that of other light bulbs. In September, the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., found the defendants liable for deceptive marketing. The defendants initially claimed their LED lamps had a 30,000-hour life and lasted “15 times longer than 2,000 hour incandescent bulbs,” according to the FTC. The defendants revised those claims downward several times, including stating that their LED lamps had a 12,000-hour life and lasted “6 times longer than 2,000 hour incandescent bulbs.” Documents showed that none of the tested LED bulbs lasted beyond a few thousand hours, the FTC said. In tests, three lamp models reached the end of their useful lives within the 961-hour test period, according to documents. LOA’s gross revenue for its Lifetime lamps through August 2009, when it reduced its 30,000-hour claim to 20,000 hours, was roughly $17.9 million, according to court documents. The company’s revenue for the 20,000-hour claim period was $3 million, and gross revenue for lamps sold under the 12,000-15,000-hour lifetime claim was $251,000, court papers show. Most of the $21 million penalty will be available for refunds to consumers, the FTC said. A court order against LOA permanently prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting material facts about lighting products, from misrepresenting light output or brightness in lumens, light output comparisons to other products, product lifetime, energy costs, energy savings and energy consumption “or the ability to produce a desired energy-related effect.” The majority of LED lamps at issue were manufactured at LOA’s facility in Shanghai, papers said. LOA sells its LED lamps through retailers in the U.S. and Canada including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Ace Hardware, Costco, Kroger, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Do it Best, Menards, Meijer, Tru Serve, Fred Meyer, Ralphs and Food 4 Less. LOA lamps are also sold under the Everyday Living brand, according to LOA’s website. A banner on the LOA website Thursday said the site is “under construction” and “specifications subject to change.”